Isn't It Time to Put On Your EMU?

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit is a $10 million spacesuit. Without these bulky outfits, NASA couldn't build the international space station. Although the suit will protect its wearer from every outer threat, it's useless as protection against inner threats.

Let's talk EMUs.

Not the large, three-toed Australian bird, flightless but fast on its feet. That would be an "emu" in lowercase letters. I'm talking in caps: E ... M ... U!

No, it's not a European Monetary Unit. That would be the "euro," introduced this year to much fanfare, including a celebration in Paris with dancers and acrobats costumed in the stars and colors of the European Union's flag. I've seen a "dollar dance" at a wedding, but never anything like this!

No, an EMU is not a bird or a buck. It's an Extravehicular Mobility Unit: a $10 million spacesuit that will be used by astronauts building the international space station. Not to be confused with the flight suit -- the orange jumper that astronauts wear in the space shuttle during missions -- the EMU is really a one-man spaceship. It's the world's smallest spacecraft, and it is going to have a role in building the world's largest!

"The white suit weighs 250 pounds on earth and takes 15 minutes to don," writes Nicole...